


Sweet Hearts

by ApprenticedMagician



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Ending Inside, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Schmoop, Valentine's Day, please excuse how out of season this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 06:18:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12102600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApprenticedMagician/pseuds/ApprenticedMagician
Summary: Valentine's Day means romance is in the air and Haruka... makes an attempt.





	1. Sweet Hearts I

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to jamesiee, who beta'd and reassured me that the cheesy parts were cute instead of overdone. <3 You can find her on [tumblr](http://www.chocolatechipcookiesplease.tumblr.com) and [AO3](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/jamesiee)!

The longer Rin stood awkwardly still outside the front door, staring incomprehensibly at the plastic bag Haruka had shoved into his hands, the more Haruka regretted this whole plan.

Not that it had been much of a plan to begin with. The origin had been two weeks ago, the day the calendar flipped to February and Haruka realized with a jolt that Rin’s birthday had surprised him _again_. Stupid February 2nd. Haruka was never good at remembering birthdays and Rin’s often had the added unpleasantness of stirring up a lot of anxiety because it left Haruka less than 48 hours to prepare something both special and suitable.

To make matters worse, it had been the first birthday they were sharing as a couple.

Rin had laughed over the last-minute drawing Haruka managed to scrape together just before his party, but afterwards Rin had jabbed him with an elbow and reassured his new boyfriend that they could make it up on Valentine’s Day; do something special, eat a home-cooked meal, exchange presents, spend time alone together – all the romantic things that were expected of regular couples.

So Haruka had gotten an extra twelve days to think of a gift Rin would appreciate. Obviously (and unfortunately) that gift would have to be _romantic_ in some capacity – an adjective that still felt wholly alien to him.

Then he had seen an enormous display of candy hearts in the supermarket, alongside all the other chocolate advertised for Valentine’s Day, and inspiration had struck.

It had been the one idea he hadn’t immediately scrapped. The candy hearts were a little pricey, but not bad enough he’d had to dip into his savings account; they were subtle and personal, small enough that Haruka wouldn’t have to feel embarrassed about exerting more effort than was appropriate for a four-month relationship.

It didn’t feel so small a thing now though, with Rin staring at the bag like spiders might be mixed in with the candy or lurking behind the excessive curls of festive red ribbon.

“Uhhhh,” Rin finally said, eyes flickering to Haruka’s. “Thanks…?”

Haruka scowled. “What’s wrong?”

Rin had the wisdom to look contrite. “Nothing, really! It’s just,” he hefted the bag, weighing it with his palm. “What is this? A whole pound of candy hearts?”

A wave of dread settled on the crown of Haruka’s head: Rin didn’t like sweets. He had forgotten, just as he had forgotten Rin’s birthday in the first place. He averted his eyes, no longer in the mood to witness Rin’s reaction even when he figured it out – it seemed like Haruka and his 356 candy hearts had decisively failed to woo and impress his boyfriend.

(The most embarrassing thing was that the bag had only come with 350 hearts – he’d added the other six himself, bought at the nearest convenience store because something about giving Rin a year’s worth of hearts had felt the right amount of stupid to also be romantic. Clearly, Haruka had been wrong about that too.)

Flushed with humiliation, Haruka retreated into his house and bit out, “You don’t have to eat them if you don’t want to.”

“Haru!” Rin hurried inside after him, tripping over his feet as he removed his shoes. “C’mon, don’t be like that! I like it, really, I just didn’t expect you to buy me candy.”

By that point, they were both seated on the tatami, though Haruka kept himself turned away from Rin, angry that such a small and stupid thing as a Valentine’s Day gift was stinging so much. Rin was bent over his torso, trying to catch his boyfriend's eye, equally upset that he had disappointed Haruka’s expectations. After a while of no successful contact, Rin gave up and turned back to look at his gift, playing idly with the ribbon.

Then, his head tilted in question and he let out a small ‘ _hm?_ ’ noise. “Where did you buy this anyway? I haven’t seen a bag like this in any of the store displays.”

Haruka huffed, half wondering if he could successfully lie and say that there was a display Rin either missed or was clearly forgetting about. Haruka was a shit liar though, and the truth really couldn’t make him feel any worse.

“Didn’t buy it at a store,” he confessed.

Rin perked up with interest. “You didn’t?”

Haruka shook his head.

“Then where did you get it?”

Haruka shrugged, thinking the answer was obvious. “I ordered them online.”

“Online??” Rin repeated, voice and face wrinkled with obvious confusion. “Why would you need to –?” Abruptly, Rin stopped himself then shot a hand out to Haru’s shoulder, and forced him to turn. Rin’s face was lit up, red eyes shining with premature tears and cheeks already dusted with blush. He clutched the bag tight to his chest, crinkling the plastic and probably creating dust between the candy hearts. “Haru,” he breathed, voice airy with hopeful disbelief. “Are these custom hearts?”

 _This_ was more akin to the reaction Haruka had expected but actually facing Rin when he was so alight and filled to the brim with childish emotion made Haruka choke like he had swallowed seawater. Habit made him look away. Stubbornness made him look back. He nodded, words lost to him while Rin looked at him like Haruka was a sight he’d never seen before. For a moment, Haruka thought Rin might kiss him. (He hoped he wouldn’t.)

Luckily, Rin did nothing but squeeze Haruka’s shoulder. Eager, he tore the ribbons off the bag and spilled dozens on hearts onto the table’s surface, fingers flipping candy and eyes darting back and forth trying to catch all the different messages Haruka had made for him. There weren’t many, since the company had only let him write five unique messages.

 _‘This is stupid’_ was one of them and made Rin laugh.

‘ _Free_ ’ was another, predictably, and Rin gave a grin that was all teeth.

Haruka could tell when Rin found the one that read ‘ _Romantic, right?_ ’ because his face simultaneously blushed and grimaced.

Then everything froze. Rin’s gaze was locked onto a heart and his fingers hovered over it, trembling slightly like the heart might be made of bubble-thin glass instead of sugared chalk.

“Haru…” he whispered, tracing over the candy’s surface, as though making sure the message was permanent and couldn’t be wiped away.

Suspecting which one he had found, Haruka moved to read over his shoulder.

Sure enough, Rin couldn't move his eyes away from a heart that read ‘ _Yours_ ’.

In Haruka’s pocket was another candy heart that he hadn’t been able to throw out when he bought the generic box. He dug it out and placed it carefully next to the heart Rin was fixated on.

“This is the one I wanted to give you,” he explained, the traditional message _‘Be mine’_ a little smudged from the heat and friction of his pant leg. “But it didn’t seem fair to take you for nothing.”

Haruka thought Rin might look at him and actually kiss him this time if the redhead wasn’t so busy pretending he wasn’t crying into the crook of his arm.

“Don’t cry,” he chastised, to which Rin convincingly barked, “I am _not crying!_ ”

Haruka patted Rin’s hair as comfort. Rin batted his hand away, and sniffled his way through saying, “Ugh, Haru how could you do this? Now my gift totally sucks.”

“My gift?” Until then, Haruka had forgotten they planned an exchange.

Rin chuckled and brought out a folded paper that had been tucked in his back pocket. He gave it to Haruka to unfold.

It was a recipe.

‘ _I used pollock to make my fish balls,_ ’ one bullet point read, ‘ _but any fleshy type such as **mackerel** should work as well. Just remember that the quality of your end product depends on the quality of the fish you start with so use the **freshest** **fish** possible._ ’ The words _mackerel_ and _freshest fish_ were circled in pen.

“Rin?” Haruka said, feeling like his eyes must be shining.

Rin looked years younger, smile wide and beaming the way it had when they were twelve. “We’re gonna make homemade fish balls and spicy sauce! I would have bought the mackerel myself but you know fresh fish better than I do. I thought we could go to the market together, you know,” he blushed, “…like couples do.”

_Like couples do._

Haruka really liked the sound of that.

“Couples hold hands on the train,” he teased, smile soft but bright on his face. Rin sputtered a little bit, tongue tripping over his choked response, which gave Haruka something to laugh at while he went to get his shopping bag.

For a first Valentine’s Day, it was shaping up to not be a complete disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The recipe that Rin printed off for Haru can be found at [this link](https://www.kawalingpinoy.com/homemade-fish-balls-with-spicy-fish-ball-sauce/).
> 
> The next chapter is an alternate ending (because I wrote two and couldn't decide which I liked better). It branches off from the moment Haruka looks over Rin's shoulder to read what candy he found.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think Haruka's fifth message could have been! ;)


	2. Sweet Hearts II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one does more to solidly place them in a timeline - their senior year in high school, a little ways before Rin returns to Australia. I arbitrarily decided that was the year 2014.

 

Haruka could tell when Rin found the one that read ‘ _Romantic, right?_ ’ because his face simultaneously blushed and grimaced.

Then everything froze. Rin’s gaze was locked onto a heart and his fingers hovered over it, trembling slightly like the heart might be made of bubble-thin glass instead of sugared chalk.

“Haru…” he whispered, tracing over the candy’s surface, as though making sure the message was permanent and couldn’t be wiped away.

Suspecting which one he had found, Haruka moved to read over his shoulder.

Sure enough, Rin couldn't move his eyes from the heart that read, ‘ _Rio 2016_ ’.

It's a two-year promise, which was more than Haruka had ever committed to anybody. It’s even more than he and Rin promised to each other in this fledgling romance that they dived into – stumbling along, not certain what will happen when high school ends and Rin goes back to Australia to train. But it’s a promise nonetheless; no matter what happens to them or between them, the Olympics was Haruka’s dream for himself now.

As long as Rin held fast to his own Olympic dream, Haruka would be right there next to him, swimming for his Team Japan and doing everything in his power to meet Rin on the podium; it’s something that he _wants_ now rather than something he tolerates.

“You really want this,” Rin whispered, as though he hadn’t been completely sure before. He looked to Haruka, searching for confirmation, sparing no attention for the tears that raced down his cheeks.

Haruka reached up a hand to wipe them away and then ran his fingers through Rin’s hair while they still had the time – while Rin was still in front of him, and not an ocean away racing against the best the world had to offer.

“I want to swim with you,” he pressed, pushing Rin to understand and to remember this. “I always want that, Rin.”

Rin’s breath was unsteady, heavy and audible through his mouth. Haruka tugged him close, until their gaze broke and their foreheads touched, trying to soothe him. He hadn’t meant to overwhelm Rin like this. It was always so hard to judge how much was too much because Haruka’s tears weren’t on a hair trigger like Rin’s were.

Now he had gone and rendered Rin mute on what was supposed to be their day of regular couple romance.

He had messed up Valentine’s Day just like he worried he might (albeit not in the way he thought).

“Sorry, Rin -”

“I always –”

Their eyes met again. Haruka applied a light pressure to Rin’s jaw, an encouragement to finish his thought. Rin gulped and brought his breathing and his crying under strict control.

“I always want to swim with you too. Everywhere, in every city.” Haruka felt his breath escape him. Rin always dreamt so big, seeing ahead to more than the pool in front of him, his ambitions too grand in scale for just one race or just one competition.

 _‘Always more with this one,’_ Haruka thought, leaning in to kiss, his heart-rate picking up speed as he imagined the sights he’d be shown if he only let Rin lead him from city to city.

There were worse things to hope for.

(“Rin,” he complained later, poking a finger beneath the ribs that kept him firmly on the floor, “I want my gift now.”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Technically* I don't consider both of these versions to be in the same timeline - that is, I don't think the missing fifth message from the first chapter is the message I provided in this chapter. So please hit me up again with your thoughts on what Haru's fifth message could have been!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
